Rules of Physics
by musicnotes093
Summary: [Co-written w/ AlienGhostWizard14] AU. Stepping foot in the world's first Bionic Academy was the easiest part. Living there with both familiar and new people? Maybe not so much. With so many lessons to learn, friends to make, and dangers to watch out for, Leo would have to learn how to adjust as he's sent on a fast track to the unknown. Sequel to Laws of Nature. Season Four redux.
1. Rebellious, Part 1

**Title:** _"_ _Rules of Physics"_

 **Rating:** T

 **Genre:** adventure, friendship

 **Characters:** all the usual suspects plus OCs

 **Summary:** AU. Stepping foot in the world's first Bionic Academy was the easiest part. Living there with both familiar and new people? Maybe not so much. With so many lessons to learn, friends to make, and dangers to watch out for, Leo would have to learn how to adjust as he's sent on a fast track to the unknown. Sequel to Laws of Nature. Season Four redux.

 **AlienGhostWizard14 notes:** Hey guys. I hope you like our sequel story. We appreciate everyone who reads and hope you guys enjoy.

 **musicnotes093's notes:** This is gonna be a long one, guys. It's gonna be like a season four – if not the whole series – redone. We still hope you enjoy, though! There are a number of new ideas in here that we're gonna work on. Should be exciting.

Updates would take quite a while, two weeks at the very least, _but-_ the chapters should be long enough.

Thank you to everyone who's here to read and support. You guys are wonderful!

* * *

 ** _Rebellious, Part One_**

Like with his first day of school, the first time Leo set foot into the Bionic Academy was characterized by strong nausea. However, whereas with the former, he felt sick because he was horribly nervous, with the latter his stomach was overturning due to his means of transportation to get there. The hydroloop had catapulted him at an unforgiving speed. At first, when Donald told him about it, he thought it would be impossible. No way a transportation system could be that fast.

He forgot that he was talking to the man whose brother had managed to create bionic chips and who himself had built an empire on things that sounded so technologically impossible.

It really wasn't the best idea to underestimate him.

As he pulled his suitcase out of the hydroloop, he looked around and had to marvel at the grand structure before him. It had been very impressive on the blueprint that was shown to him, but seeing it in person made it all the more striking. The room in front of him, which had all the makings of a classroom, was so big. The gadgets that furnished it allayed some of his doubts for choosing this instead of the university. Maybe, he thought, it wouldn't be so bad there after all.

He looked at the students wandering around, touring their new home with a wide-eyed interest. He smiled at a few whose eyes he caught, and it settled down some of his apprehension when some of them smiled back. A few of the teenagers glanced at him, frowning quickly as they saw him and his suitcase, before walking on with their group, chatting amongst themselves about things he probably wondered about, too.

The wide window to his right offered a great view of the Pacific, and for a moment he was lost in it. The beginning of this new chapter of his life looked beautiful, bright, and infinite, just like the sun and the ocean that surrounded them. At the same time, he was aware of how lonely and disorienting it could also be, especially now that he was thousands of miles away from the city he knew and the people he considered as his home.

"Hey! You're here!" came a greeting from behind him.

Leo turned around then smiled. "Hey, Mr. Davenport. How's it going?"

Donald shrugged. "Oh, you know, not too bad. The orientation's not until this afternoon, so I have time to just relax." He frowned after seeing the suitcase. "That's all you brought with you?"

"Just a few clothes. You mentioned about the capsule dorms, and from the blueprints it looked like there were going to be ten capsules in a room? I didn't really know where I'd be storing any of my things, so I just brought some clothes for now," Leo said.

Donald scratched his head. "Well, you won't really need that many of your clothes here anyways, so I guess it was good you packed light. But then I also made a deal with you. I told you you'd get free room and board if you sign up, and since you did, well, you will have your own room." He turned at an angle, and then asked with a smirk, "You wanna see?"

"Yeah, sure," Leo said, surprised by the accommodation that was extended to him.

As they briskly walked down the hallway, Donald said, "It's not much. Just a small room near Douglas' room at the far end of the North wing, but I figured it would be enough. The other students, even Adam, Bree, Chase, and Daniel, have to share rooms, but I figured you may not be used to having that many people in your space."

"I would've been okay with having one or two roommates," Leo offered as he struggled to keep up with the inventor, tugging on his luggage while avoiding the teenagers in their path.

Donald smiled. "Well, I'll keep that in mind," he noted. "How was your trip here?"

"Sickening. Almost spilled my breakfast all over the hydroloop's floor."

"Oh."

"Mr. Davenport? What did you mean when you said I won't need many of my clothes here?" Leo asked.

Donald smiled secretively as they slowed down to a stop in front of a door. Facing him, he told the teenager, "Attend the orientation after lunch. You'll see." Taking the intrigued expression on the boy's face as an indication of success, he chuckled. He gestured ahead. "Lead the way."

Though still puzzled, Leo did what he was told. The door slid open with a soft hiss, revealing the modest but very comfortable room behind it.

"You don't have to worry about people coming in here snooping through your stuff," Donald said as the teenager marveled at the capsule and the small amount of furniture in it. "I designed this door to read your bionic chip, so unless it's you or you're with the people who want to come in, it won't open. It's the same with the capsule dorms, just to avoid any fights or confusion. The Living Quarters, which is where Adam, Bree, Chase, and Daniel would be, will be the only exception. We're allowing students to come in there in case they have questions or concerns—you know, open door policy. So, if you have anything you want to talk to them about, just come by. Don't come too often, though. They won't appreciate that very much."

"Wow, Mr. Davenport. I don't know what to say," Leo said, stunned at what the billionaire had done for him.

Donald smirked. "Say you'll be at the orientation." With that he walked out the door.

Leo smiled and then started to unpack his few possessions.

. . .

"Excuse me, coming through," Leo said as he maneuvered through the crowd of students as he tried to find the cafeteria. From what Mr. Davenport said, lunch would end in 15 minutes, and he hadn't gotten a single bite to eat yet. It would be a lot easier if the school wasn't the size of an island. Actually, it would be easier if the school was the size of a school.

He looked behind him, and because of that he didn't notice the girl standing in the middle of the hallway. "Ow!" he said after he ran into the girl, knocking both of them to the floor.

"Oh man, I'm so sorry," the girl said as he helped her up.

"No, it's fine, really. I should have been looking at where I was going." Smiling a small smile, she looked up at him, and it showed Leo her features. She had dark hair and a somewhat tan skin tone. From what he could see, she was also about his height. "Again, sorry about that," he said. "I'm Leo, by the way."

The girl smiled. "Nice to meet you. I'm S-75."

"Catchy." Leo forgot that the students hadn't chosen their new names yet, so they still went by their soldier names.

"Weird, you mean," she said.

Leo held his hands up. "Hey, I didn't say that."

She chuckled. "I haven't seen you around. We've met the Davenports, so I know you're not a family member." She narrowed her eyes, her head slightly tilting. "You're not, like, one of my brothers that I haven't met yet, are you?"

"Not that I know of," Leo replied with a grin.

She nodded slowly. "Not to sound rude but, what are you here for then?"

"Right now, I'm just here for something to eat. I'm starving."

"Oh. Well, in that area I can help." She nodded to the right side of the room. "This way."

"I wish I had toured this place earlier. I was too busy getting situated," Leo said a moment later, following her through the stream of students.

"No worries. If it makes you feel better, the cafeteria's the only other place besides the dormitories that I know about," said the girl. She smirked. "It's the only place I _bothered_ to learn about."

"Yeah?"

"Yep. I just discovered that I really like normal people food."

"What, you haven't had any before?"

"No. Not that I know of," she said, veering to the left. "Then again, I don't remember much of anything before Adam found us, so I can't say I'm positive I didn't."

"What do you remember eating?" Leo asked as the cafeteria came to view.

"Power pellets," she said, stopping at the nearly non-existent lunch line. She turned around with a grin. "I guess the guy who managed us before fed us like we were chickens."

"Well, teenagers could be as jumpy," he joked. "Sometimes adults can't differentiate us from farm animals, you know?"

She pointed at him in agreement, playing along. She glanced behind at the counter then said, "Well, here you are. Enjoy your lunch."

Leo smiled at her. "Thanks."

She nodded. She was walking away when something came to her, causing her to turn around with a frown. "Oh, uh, Leo, right? Can I ask you something? Do you think you're gonna eat the crumbly, crunchy things they have up there? We have three in a plate. It's brown."

Leo looked at the counter. "They really gave us chicken pellets?"

"No, no, they're different," she said. Gesturing with her hands, she described, "It's circular, yay big. It's got little dark dots all around. It's very sweet."

Leo thought about it for a while. "Cookies?"

"Yeah, that's it. I think that's what it says on the little cards," she said. She smiled widely. "Are you gonna eat all of yours?"

"Uh, I guess I can save 'em for you," Leo said. "You can have it."

"Thanks! I tried to ask my siblings for some of theirs, but they won't share. Meanies." She grinned. "Anyways, I'll catch you later at the orientation. Eat well." After that, she left.

Leo watched as she vanished through the intersecting hallways. He was kind of glad to meet somebody friendly, albeit a little forward. It would definitely be interesting, especially if most of his fellow students were like her.

Remembering how much time he had left, he hurried to get his food, already subconsciously looking forward to the assembly that should be taking place shortly.

. . .

"Welcome! Welcome, everyone, to the orientation session for the first ever Davenport Bionic Academy!"

A round of applause came about, and it seemed to really please Donald. Leo must say, the administration was already making quite an impression. The Davenports, led by Donald and with Adam, Bree, Chase, and Daniel on his side (Douglas stood nearby), were all dressed in white attires that rendered them quite official and very respectable. From what he could tell, the teenagers in the family, especially the two youngest, looked proud in it.

"Oh, thank you, guys. You're so kind," Donald said. "Anyways, most of you know me. …Oh, who am I kidding? Of course all of you know me. I'm Donald Davenport, founder and CEO of Davenport Industries—"

Douglas cleared his throat.

" _Co-founder_ and CEO of Davenport Industries," Donald amended with a side glance at his younger brother, "as well as this academy…"

While Donald introduced his family and spoke of their roles, Leo took a quick look around. From the crowd, he easily picked out S-1. She seemed to have been designated as leader and perhaps even the parental figure of the pack, if the way many of her siblings stayed close by her was any indication. With her were perhaps the youngest students there, listening to the words the founder said. He noticed a brief movement in his periphery. When he looked, he found S-75 smiling at him, a hand slightly up after waving.

Smiling back, Leo looked back at Mr. Davenport, seeing Douglas give a tablet to Adam. "And that's all of our staff. Now, I would like to talk about how we are doing classes. Adam, Bree, if you could." Donald said, gesturing to his oldest children.

"If we could what?" Adam asked, getting an eye roll from Bree. Grabbing the tablet from her brother's hands, she pressed a few buttons, and the wall behind the stage displayed a picture. The picture was a bar graph, with four colored bars. The bars ranged in size, with the yellow being the smallest, followed by green, then orange, and lastly red.

"This will be our ranking system. Each color signifies your mastery of your bionics: red being an expert, orange advanced, green intermediate, and yellow being beginner. You will wear your colored patches depicting your rank." Bree pressed the tablet again, and the picture changed to show a black shirt with yellow patches, depicting a beginner's rank.

"Now, obviously you will be able to go up or down in rank, depending on how you handle your abilities, participation in class, etc. At the end of every quarter, I will let everyone know their new rank. When you get back to your rooms, your uniforms should be in your capsule's closet. If it isn't, come check with me, Douglas, or Chase, and we will get them to you."

Everyone in the room seemed pretty content, so Donald smiled. "Great. Classes start tomorrow, hope you guys have a great rest of the day." At that, the mentors left the training room, which everyone else soon followed. Leo waited behind for a bit, so he wouldn't get trampled on his way. After a few minutes, only Leo and a handful of students remained in the training hall.

As Leo walked towards the back, he froze, noticing one of the soldiers in the corner of the room. The kid looked either really sad or really tired and was just reading something from a tablet. But that was not why Leo noticed him. He suddenly remembered an event from a few weeks ago, at the battle.

 _"Ow," Leo said, dropping the wires and flashlight. "And that must have been the power cord," he deadpanned. Bending down and turning around, he went to grab his flashlight. Except, he stopped cold seeing the light showing a pair of black sneakers._

 _Looking up, Leo jumped up at seeing who was in front of him. It was a Hispanic boy, looking around Leo's age. He was wearing a black shirt with a gray vest, and black jeans. But, Leo didn't focus on any of that; he just saw the mechanical green eyes. And he widened his eyes seeing the green turning red._

However, unlike then, the teenager didn't look bent on hurting anybody. He seemed as awkward, uncertain and even as out of place as he. It then came to him that like S-75, without the Triton app controlling the boy, the ruthlessness that usually came with it likely didn't exist in him anymore.

Encouraged by his earlier experience with the teenager's sister, Leo, grinning, decided to approach him. "Hey, I know you! Weren't you the guy who tried to kill me?"

At that, the boy looked like he just wanted to vanish into the wall behind him.

Seeing the looks they got from passersby, Leo realized that the explanation of how he knew him didn't come out as tactful as he thought it would. He wanted to apologize and amend his mistake, but by the time he turned his attention back to him he was already taking his leave. He wanted to call after him, but he saw it would be of no use.

 _Nice, Leo,_ he thought. _At this rate you'll alienate the entire island by breakfast._

As he assessed how his first day at the island had been going, he suddenly remembered Natalie and Xavier. It made his heart sick for his friends.

He hoped they were having a better start to the school year than he was.

 **. . .**

After breakfast the next morning, the administration at the academy announced that the first agenda of the day was registration.

It seemed backwards and slightly redundant since they already drafted dossiers of each student well before orientation yesterday, but the founder said that they realized that students still went by their soldier number designation. He added then, unfortunately not jokingly, that he was moved to rename all of them based on his own name (at which Leo was glad that his mother already picked one for him). However, since the mentors frowned upon that idea, he would let them choose what they would like to be called instead.

Though their mastery wouldn't be reevaluated, the founder also said that some students would need to meet with Douglas and Daniel again regarding their abilities. Thanks to Adam, some files were tampered with, leaving a hole in the database they had made. It wouldn't take long, he said. Just a brief refresher so they could patch it up.

Leo didn't think he would be affected by either of those. At this point, the Davenports were probably already so knowledgeable of his information that they could recite those in their sleep. His abilities, too – they already knew it well.

He glanced at the patches on his uniform. He didn't really mind being classified as a beginner because he was. He did have a bit of an issue with the shirt being a little too snug. He understood that he was a small guy, but he really would have liked a shirt that was a size bigger. It fitted a little uncomfortably, and it honestly made him conscious.

Maybe he could speak to Bree about it after training. His first online class wouldn't start until quarter 'til eleven, so he had time and wouldn't have to rush to get back to his room.

Once he finished with his food, he got up from his seat, tossed the disposables in the bin, and then made his way to the training area. He didn't want to make the same mistake yesterday of being unprepared, so he decided to avail himself of the chance to get acquainted with the classroom. Consulting the tablet given to him, he proceeded to go on his way.

He had just walked out of the cafeteria when he heard his name. Swiveling around, he saw Douglas by the entrance with Daniel at his side. "Got a minute?" Douglas asked.

"Um…" He looked at the direction where more students started to head to. With what he had planned, he really barely had any to spare. But, he opted to go anyways. "Sure."

Douglas nodded to the left, leading the way down the hall. "How do you like it here so far?" he asked a moment later.

"Okay. It's a really nice facility," Leo said.

"Good. Glad to hear it," Douglas said. "Your capsule works well?"

"Yes."

"Good. There were some students who didn't sleep too well last night. I'm gonna look into that later on today."

Leo leaned back a little and said to Daniel, "Hey, man. How's it going?"

"Too fast, honestly," Daniel responded. "This all sounded good when Uncle Donald brought it up two, three months ago. Now it's just…"

Leo grinned. "Being a mentor's a lot of work, isn't it?"

Daniel scoffed. "It's driving me crazy. I know it's bad when I start wishing we were back in Mission Creek High."

"Hey, you gotta work for those digs. They're nice, by the way."

"Thanks. Adam's already got food stains all over his."

Leo chuckled. Turning to Douglas, he asked, "I hope you don't mind but, where are we going?"

Douglas stopped at a door. "My office," he said, placing his hand on the scanner. After it read his prints, the entrance slid open.

The first thing that Leo noticed when he stepped in was the exam table, situated just a few feet ahead. To its right, mounted up against the wall, was a large cabinet, colored as sterile white as the rest of the room. There was a long table at the farthest end, with gadgets and diagnostic equipment semi-organized on it. There was also a desktop to the left side.

He guessed it made sense that Douglas' office was a clinic. After reviewing last night what he had missed at the orientation, he learned from the Staff List that the younger inventor had been designated as the academy's resident nurse. Still, it made him wonder, "I thought the infirmary is on the third floor on the West Building?"

"Dad thought it was a good idea to have a place that's easily accessible. Closer to points where students are likely to get hurt," Daniel explained.

Douglas pulled out a drawer. While taking out a folder, he asked Leo, "You're okay with the rank given to you?"

Leo nodded. "Yeah. I could always use more pointers on dealing with this new stuff."

"New stuff, huh," Douglas said with a smirk. He picked out a pen from the holder, and then opened the file. "I know training's starting soon, so I won't take long. Like Donny said, some bits were unfortunately deleted. Just to be safe this time, we're also using paper copies as back-ups. Okay, so, your basic information's still intact," he said, frowning down on the printed copy. "Daniel?"

"Same with the database," his son replied, consulting his tablet.

"The information about your dad is blank. Is that one of the things that got messed up, too, or…?"

Leo just shook his head.

"Alright." Douglas skimmed down the list. He turned to the next page, and then tapped on it. "That's what's really missing. Your range of abilities. I remember your bionics are mostly strength-based, so I already put super strength and blast wave down." He glanced up at him. "Do you have super durability?"

"Not that I know of," Leo said.

"Okay. What else do you have?"

"Uh, the one with the laser spheres…"

"Laser sphere generation," Douglas said as he wrote and Daniel typed.

Leo scratched his head, hesitating. "And I, uh, I think I can also absorb energy."

Douglas and Daniel both looked at him, and the expressions on their faces reaffirmed his choice of not telling Donald, Bree, and Chase about it during assessment a few days ago. "You told Donny about this, right?" Douglas asked.

Leo shook his head. "They needed a demo, and I didn't want to do it. When I accidentally came across it a few weeks ago, I freaked and ended up shorting out a few things in our house. I don't want to do that again."

"Look, kid, I know these new abilities are scary, but you have to tell us about it," Douglas said patiently. "Energy Transference can be lethal if you don't know how to control it. That ability enables you to tap into any energy sources."

"Well, okay, I just have to stay away from anything with electricity then."

" _Living things_ are also energy sources," Douglas pointed out.

Seeing the distress on his features, Daniel assured him, "Don't feel bad for having this ability, Leo. Dad's not telling you this to make you feel guilty. We just think that learning about it would help you a lot." He grinned. "If you ask me, I think that ability is pretty cool."

Though he didn't smile back, Leo did appreciate it. "I'm not the only one who has this, right?" he asked.

"Nope. Far from it. S-3 and nine others have it, if I remember right," Douglas said, and it gave Leo a sense of relief. Checking the file again, he said, "So, you've got super strength, blast wave, laser sphere generation, and energy transference. Besides laser sphere generation, the rest of the abilities are at beginner's level. Is that all the abilities you have?"

"Uh…" Leo quickly glanced at his peripheries. String of various colors streamed all around him. Over the quick summer break, he had learned what those really were: electromagnetic waves. Objects usually had one set color, though still varying depending on what they were for. His favorites were the thickest streams, the light blue ones, since they were superhighways of information. He tapped into them several times already, opening them to see what they contain. He'd like to think that at this point, he had become very familiar with how to operate it.

What he disliked the most were the strings connected to bionic humans. It had been useful with Krane, but now, being surrounded with that many teenagers with so many waves he could easily tug on, he detested it.

Douglas looked up. "You have another one?"

"No," Leo lied. He smiled. "That's it."

"Are you sure?"

"I wish I had super durability."

"That doesn't count." Douglas made a quick check. Then, he nodded. "Alright, you're free to go. You know where the Training Area is from here, right?"

"Yep. Just go back to the direction of the cafeteria, and then turn right."

"Okay. Keep Adam in check, won't you?"

"Sure." Then, he walked out.

The smile on his face gradually fell as he traveled down the hall. Glancing around, he saw the air filled with different waves. He could even still see the orange neon one that belonged to Daniel, even if it was faint now.

He couldn't tell anyone about this. If he wanted to have friends, he couldn't. If anyone found out, they might all become afraid of him, even the family that had invited him and extended their kindness to him.

So he wouldn't. He would keep silent about the ability that he had nearly a full control over.

* * *

 _Part Two will be up in two weeks. :)_


	2. Rebellious, Part 2

_Many, many thanks to Susz and EmeraldTulip for leaving reviews. We appreciate it very much, ladies!_

 _Part two!_

* * *

 ** _Rebellious, Part Two_**

Leo was thinking that maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if Krane had finished him off a few months ago. At least then he wouldn't have withstand another minute of this torture.

His first class at the academy was Bionic Infrastructure 101. It was a class meant to teach the students about their systems, and how they work. It also teaches about the bionic chips, how each ability can be used, and the purpose of the capsules. That wasn't so bad; it was their teacher that was making it unbearable.

Chase was unaware that the whole class was either bored out of their minds or had fallen asleep. Leo was pretty sure he was teaching about the way the bionics merge with their nervous systems, but the way he was teaching was way too complicated for these soldiers; one of the ten, to be honest.

"Shortly after the technology in the chips melded with our spinal cords, it mutates our leukocytes, allowing our bodies to..." Chase stopped, hearing a loud noise. The whole room looked over to one of the desks and saw one of the soldiers asleep. The boy was older than Leo, probably around Chase's age, with spiked up brown hair, and was apparently an expert rank. What the class had heard was most likely him snoring.

Chase went up to the desk, not looking happy at all. Grabbing a nearby book, he threw it down onto the table, startling the teenager awake. "Uh—I wasn't sleeping!" the boy yelled, getting giggles from around the room.

"Really, because that looked exactly like what you were doing. What, my classes not exciting enough for you, S-3?" Chase said, getting louder throughout his rant.

"Actually, I go by Sebastian now. And I would have told you that, if you hadn't put me to sleep." Leo grimaced, not liking the direction this class was going in.

"I'll have you know, my class is _very_ interesting," Chase said defensively.

"Interesting to who? To us or to you?"

"To everybody."

"Doubt it. At least one of us already fell asleep. You probably wouldn't've even noticed if I hadn't snored out loud," Sebastian said easily.

Chase's jaw locked then unlocked. He turned his glower towards the rest of the students, sufficiently shaking them off their sleepiness. "Is _anyone else_ bored?" he asked. He only received a mixture of blank and frightened stares in response. "Looks like it was just you," he told Sebastian vindictively.

"Of course no one would tell you they were. Not if they see you're that angry," Sebastian said coolly, unintimidated. He then turned his eyes on Leo. "Ask him. He'll tell you."

Chase turned around. "Leo?"

The attention he got from the livid mentor and the terrified students made Leo's stomach flip. "Thanks for throwing me under the bus," he told Sebastian sarcastically.

Sebastian just mock bowed.

"Well?" Chase pressed.

Leo sat up as he thought of the best way to word his response. "Before I say anything, let me ask you a question: do you want to know the truth, or do you want to be right?" he asked tactfully.

That seemed to anger the mentor more. "Alright. If my teaching really bores you, maybe learning it on your own would be better," Chase told the class. "For homework, every single one of you must write a five-page essay on the mechanics of bionic chips. Font size 12, single spaced, and it's due _tomorrow_." Immediately, the students expressed distress and frustration in that decision.

Leo raised his hand uncertainly, eyes narrowed. "Technically, I'm not enrolled in the academic classes here. I'm not affected by this, right?" he asked.

Chase only glared at him. "You're dismissed," he told everyone spitefully.

Though still confused, Leo picked up his tablet then hopped off his chair. He couldn't say Chase's behavior surprised him. Neither did it truly offend him. He guessed with the new setting and new teenagers to figure out, the bionic genius was once again struggling with feeling respected. In his opinion, though, he didn't need to be so aggressive just to assert his dominance. He was making the students feel small by doing that.

Someone suddenly rushed up to and started walking with him. "Hey. What class are you headed to?" Sebastian asked.

Leo eyed him suspiciously before saying, "Training."

"With who?"

"Adam. Why?"

Sebastian shook his head. "Nothing. Just wanted to see if we were headed the same direction. Looks like we are," he said. He smiled. "Sorry for – what did you say again, 'pushing you under the bus?' Yeah, sorry for that, by the way. I figured you'd be honest with Chase and that he's most likely to listen to you."

"It's all good. I guess," Leo replied, muttering the last two words. Then he added, "You know, it probably wasn't a good idea to talk to him like that."

"If I don't, who else would?"

"You gotta cut the guy some slack. Maybe he's just nervous," Leo reasoned. He scoffed. "Besides, I've used that approach before. Believe me, it doesn't work too well."

"Oh, that's right. You worked with them to bring down the guy who created us, right?" Sebastian said. He shrugged when he saw the look on Leo's face. "Taylor told us about it."

"Taylor?"

"Formerly S-1."

"Ah," Leo nodded. "In that case, yes. I did. Why? Are you mad at me for doing that?"

"No. Taylor told us that he was a really bad person. He also left her when he saw no more use in her, and I've got a feeling he would've done the same with any one of us. That's all I need to know. I'm not interested in anything else," Sebastian said.

"Oh, that's good. Glad you understand." By that time, the two had arrived at the main training hall, where the rest of the class was waiting.

"Sebastian, and Leo. That should be everyone," Adam said, looking at his tablet. Putting it down, the oldest bionic smiled. "Alright guys, welcome to training. I'm Adam, and I'll be your instructor. In this class, I'll be teaching you how to properly use your bionics, as well as some self-defense and martial arts." Leo looked a bit confused; he had never seen Adam look so responsible. It showed the immature teen was growing up. "Now, Mr. Davenport gave me a lesson plan to follow, but instead, we're just going to dive all in and hopefully you'll learn a thing or two."

Never mind.

"Now, today, I'll be pairing you guys off to fight each other one-on-one. Each match will be either two minutes, or until someone surrenders. You can use whatever abilities you have, just try to fight clean. Now first match-up will be against Spin and..." Adam looked at the group for a minute before selecting the other fighter. "Leo, you're up."

Leo shrugged. He didn't really care who he fought, he was just glad his match-up was against another beginner. Jumping off the stage, he was surprised to see who his opponent was. It was a kid, ten at the oldest. But what surprised Leo more was the way the kid was looking at him; he looked at Leo the way at cat looked at a fish.

Confused at the kid's mannerisms, Leo smiled a stuck in hand out to the kid. "Good luck out there, little man."

Instead of shaking Leo's hand though, Spin just knocked it away. "You're the one that's going to need luck, fishbone." With that, Spin walked to his side of the area, leaving Leo shocked and a bit hurt. Leo then frowned. He didn't care how this kid was, he was going down.

"Okay, two minutes start...now!" Adam yelled, officially starting the match. Leo didn't even have a chance to blink; he was knocked down by a small cyclone. Looking up, he saw the cyclone stop, showing Spin smirking. "Okay, I now see why they call you Spin," Leo deadpanned, getting up.

"Just give up now. At least then you can keep some of your dignity." Okay, this kid was officially getting on Leo's nerves. Throwing his hand forward, a laser sphere shot out, hitting Spin in the shoulder, and knocking him back a bit. Getting up, the ten year old looked mad. "Bad idea, Leo."

The kid then proceeded to spin, shooting all around the room. Leo fired laser spheres at him, but he moved out of the way each time like it was nothing. Suddenly, Leo felt something hit him in the back. He fell on this his stomach. Getting up, he could hear the other students giggling, obviously finding the teenager being beaten by someone much younger than him funny.

Leo looked around and saw the Spin-Cyclone continuing to skid around the room. Suddenly, the cyclone came shooting at Leo. The teen tried to get out of the way of the cyclone, but once again was knocked down.

"30 more seconds, guys." Adam called, sounding excited about the match. Spin stopped spinning, and then smirked down at Leo.

"This has been fun, but I think it's time to wrap this up." The kid then spun back into a cyclone, and started to spin in a circle around Leo. Every few seconds, he would ram into Leo, trying to knock him down, before returning in his circular path. Looking around, Leo tried shooting some laser spheres, but Spin was moving too fast to be hit.

Finding it pointless, Leo decided to stop his attack and think. His laser spheres were obviously not working, so that was out. Spin was moving too fast, so that also ruled out super strength. His energy transference would be useless, seeing there was nothing to absorb. The only other thing he could use in front of the class was his blast wave ability, but if he missed, he could hurt the spectators. And even if he hit Spin, he could seriously hurt the boy.

"15 seconds guys," Adam called. Leo looked up at hearing that and was surprised at what he saw. An electromagnetic wave was slowly surrounding him, moving around him the same way Spin was. Leo then got an idea.

Leo charged in his hand a laser sphere, waiting for it to get to certain size. Following the wave, Leo saw the end almost right in front of him. Seeing his chance Leo fired.

The laser sphere hit Spin, stopping his attack and knocking him away. The kid tried to get up, but his attempt proved futile, and he fell back down in defeat. The class was shocked, looking at Spin, then at Leo. Smiling sheepishly, Leo shrugged. "Lucky shot, I guess."

Smiling wide, Adam went over to Leo and raised his hand up in the air. "We have a winner!" The class cheered, a few students helping Spin back onto the stage. "Alright, who's next?"

Before Adam could choose, the intercom went off. The class deduced it was Bree's voice coming through. _"Adam, could you please come to the quarters. We have a bit of a situation."_

"Alright." Pointing to his students, he said, "I'll be right back. Leo, you're in charge."

"What? Why me?" Leo asked.

Adam shrugged. "Why not?"

Leo watched as the oldest of the Davenport children vanished to the hall. Once he was gone, he turned his attention back to the class and was immediately intimidated by the eyes looking at him. He chuckled nervously. "Well, I don't know about you, but I could really go for some downtime," he said. He raised a hand. "Who else is up for it?"

Glances were exchanged, but nearly everyone's hands went up though hesitatingly so.

"You're not gonna pair us up for another battle?" one of the students asked.

"Do you really wanna risk getting whooped and embarrassed in front of everybody?"

The boy thought about it, and then he shook his head.

"Alright. Let's just chill until Adam comes back," Leo said, cuing an impromptu break.

"That was really good, Leo," Sebastian told him with an impressed grin as he sat down. "I didn't think you could beat Spin, but you did."

"Like I said, it was a fluke," Leo excused.

"Well, it certainly didn't look like it." Sebastian's features wrinkled in thought. "Actually, it looked like…you knew where he was going and waited."

"What? That's crazy," Leo said, smirking though the suspicion made him nervous. "He was moving so fast. How could I have seen him?"

"I don't know. Bionic ability?"

"I'm categorized as strength-based."

Sebastian nodded, but Leo could tell that the gears in his mind were still working. "Okay."

"Hey, Seb."

Looking up, Leo saw a teenage girl. She had long, jet black hair that flowed behind to her back and wide, doe-like eyes. Beside her was a younger girl. She was as slim and fit as her older sister, but with blonde hair and keen, blue eyes. They appeared very kind, but for some reason they reminded Leo of the duplicitous girls at Northside High who Natalie didn't like.

He shook the thought off, thinking that having reservations against people he didn't truly know would be unfair.

"Are we interrupting your class?" the brunette asked shyly.

Sebastian shook his head. "No. We're on a break, actually," he said with a smile at Leo.

"Oh, okay."

"Leo, these are my sisters. This is Lexi," – he pointed to the brunette – "and that is Dawn," he said, pointing to the blonde. "Lexi, Dawn, this is Leo. He's one of my new friends."

Lexi held out a hand, and Leo shook it. "Hi, nice to meet you, Leo," she said.

"Yeah. It's nice to see that Sebastian's making friends," Dawn said with a small grin. "He tends to _not_."

When she and Lexi chuckled, Sebastian jokingly quipped with, "At least I don't have a crush on a mentor."

Dawn blushed as her older siblings laughed. "Seb, stop," she said.

"You've got a crush on one of the mentors?" Leo asked.

"Dawn here 'kinda likes' Daniel," Lexi said with a grin.

"Really."

"Yes, but don't tell, okay? It's a little embarrassing," Dawn said, causing Leo to chuckle.

"Speaking of embarrassing, can we talk to you for a sec, Sebastian? We kinda have an issue," Lexi said.

"Yeah, sure," the eldest of three said. "You don't mind, right, Leo?"

"I'm not the boss of you," Leo said.

"Cool. I'll be back before Adam comes back."

As Leo watched the three depart, his first thought was that for these students, it was probably nice to have their siblings be their classmates. If the relationship between them had been like how it was with him, Natalie, and Xavier, they were probably having a blast. That made him happy for them. After years of being under Krane, they deserved something good, especially as they transition to a new life.

But for some reason, there was something about Sebastian, Lexi, and Dawn that he didn't like. They were nice and friendly, but his instincts were telling him it was just a front. They were hiding something. What it was, he didn't know, and he was sure his suspicion wasn't very baseless.

His mother told him when he was little that if something didn't feel right, he needed not feel guilty for being wary. So he wouldn't be. He would keep a cordial relationship with those three while also keeping an eye out when around them.

 **. . .**

Chase sighed. This was not how his first day should be going. Right now, he should be spreading his vast knowledge to his students and gaining their admiration and respect. Not below sea level outside the weapons room.

Chase looked at everyone, not surprised by the expressions on their faces. Bree looked bored and was trying to get a signal on her phone. Mr. Davenport and Douglas were talking by the door, what about he didn't know. Only Daniel looked worried, a panicked look on his face, fidgeting in his place.

Chase looked up from the group at the sound of footsteps. Looking down the hallway, he saw Adam jogging over to them. "Hey guys, I'm here. What's the emergency?"

Everyone looked at Daniel at that. "Yes, Daniel, why are we down here?" Bree asked.

Daniel sighed. "Okay, this isn't going to make much sense, but I know what I saw. So, Dad asked me to come down here to do inventory and make sure everything is secured properly. So, I get down here, and well...see for yourself." Using his keycard, Daniel unlocked the door, and everyone walked inside.

Once inside, Adam started screaming. "Oh my gosh, it's hideous!"

Everyone shot the oldest teen confused looks. "Adam, there's nothing wrong."

"I know. The way everything is placed really ruins the room's flow."

Before anyone can say anything else, Daniel started stuttering. "I-I don't understand. Ev-everything was gone. A-All of it."

"What exactly are we talking about?" Douglas asked.

"The weapons. The equipment. All of it," Daniel said as he stared at the fully stacked room.

Bree exchanged glances with Adam and Chase. "Well, they're all here," she said.

Daniel only shook his head in disbelief. "It hasn't even been that long," he said. When he turned around and saw the puzzled and even pitying looks his family darted towards him, he insisted vindictively, "I know what I saw! It was all gone. This room was empty. I'm not lying to you!"

"Okay, okay. No need to raise your voice," his father said to him pacifyingly. He stepped closer to him then placed a hand on his shoulder. "Let's just think about this, alright? The weapons. Let's say someone did take them earlier. Why would they do that?"

"I don't know. Maybe they want to use it to hurt somebody."

"Who exactly?"

Daniel brooded about it. The lack of answer frustrated him more. Shrugging off his father's hand, he said, "I know what I saw. Why doesn't anyone believe me?"

"Daniel, it's not that no one believes you," Donald offered. "It's just that these past few weeks had been exhausting for all of us. Maybe…"

"I wasn't imagining it, Uncle Donald," Daniel said. Seeing he had found no listening ear, he said, "Something's going on. I don't know what yet, but I'm going to find out." Then, he left.

Those whom he had left behind looked at each other. Chase knew that what his father said was right – these past few weeks _had_ been long and exhausting. It wasn't that they fully disregarded what the youngest Davenport had said. After all, Daniel had never once lied just to stir up controversy, at least after he and Douglas joined the team. Neither had he done so just to get attention. Plus, by the way he reacted, he truly believed what he said he had seen.

Still, Chase was a man of science, and evidence indicated that the warning alarm his younger brother tried to sound out didn't come from an accurate basis.

As his older siblings, father, and uncle headed back to their previous activities, he did, too. Maybe they would get a clearer answer to this incident. Maybe Daniel would forget about it, realize he just needed to take it easy. Either way, it would need to be resolved later. Right now, the classes were more important.

Because of this lack of focus, though, none of them noticed the person who appeared at the opposite hall behind them. The tall, muscular blonde held a remote in his hand. Once the coast was clear, he hurried up to the room previously vacated then pressed the button.

The hologram of all the equipment blinked out.

Satisfied, he left the room, but not without checking the hall again. Once he was free, he ran back to the way he had come from, eager to report the success of the first phase of their plan.

 **. . .**

"Hi there! Mind if I join you?"

Leo looked up from his lunch of chicken sandwich, chips, and orange slices and saw the familiar brunette. "Not at all," he told her. After she sat down at the table, he said, "So, I'm being reintroduced to a lot of people today. You don't happen to have stuck with S-75, did you?"

"When it's so unique and sequential? Why wouldn't I?" she joked. Leo laughed at that. She shrugged, pleased with the result. "Eh, I picked Amelia. Had a nice ring to it. What do you think? I was looking through databases last night, and it's the one that jumped at me the most."

"Sounds classic."

"Right?" Amelia said as Leo continued eating. "I thought so, too."

"Is it hard remembering your siblings' names? There are a lot to memorize."

"Well, no, not really. The ones I talk to regularly, I've got their names down pat. The rest, well, we've got a _long_ time being here together."

"Yeah, that's true." Leo glanced at the girl's shoulder patches and smirked. "I see you got stuck with being a bionic bumblebee also."

Glancing at her patches, she laughed. "Yeah, I was going for a sunflower-y vibe, but a bumblebee makes more sense."

Leo laughed. "Nice. How's our first day been so far?"

Amelia sighed. "Pretty boring, actually. The only classes I've had today were Modern Living with Bree, and Math with Chase. The only thing of any significance was when Chase left the room for, like, a half hour."

"Huh, that's weird. Adam did the same thing earlier." Leo was about to talk more about it when he heard a crash. Looking up, he saw a group of teens laughing at a boy on the ground, his lunch sprawled out in front of him. Leo was surprised to see it was the same boy from the training facility. He felt bad as he could see that all the kid wanted to do was disappear as the jerks' laughter had spread to a few more tables.

As the boy tried to stand up, the biggest bully swiped his leg in front of the kid's arm, making him fall back down. "Oops, sorry." That comment made the kid and his friends to laugh even louder.

That was enough. Already telling this kid wouldn't stop, Leo got out of his table and walked over to the bully. "Hey, Chips-For-Brains." The kid stopped laughing, surprised someone was talking to him like that. "Back off, alright. Haven't you damaged his self-esteem enough?" Leo grimaced at his choice of words, seeing the bullied boy try to crawl away after that comment.

The instigator crossed his arms, and then stepped in the path of the other boy to stop him. "And if I don't," he asked with a sneer, "what are you gonna do about it?"

Leo shot Amelia a glance and saw uncertainty in her eyes. After taking a deep breath and taking a bite of his sandwich to wash down his nervousness, he got up. "I would appeal to your reasonableness," he said slowly. "Because, I mean, come on – we're not in grade school. We could be a little more civilized than this, right?"

The boy's brows only shot up in amusement. "Just turn around and pretend you're not seeing this. It'll be much better that way." Then, he grabbed his younger brother by the collar of his shirt.

"Actually—" Leo startled the guy when he broke his hold away. He chuckled nervously when glowers began shooting towards his direction instead. "Actually, I can't," Leo continued. After helping the other teenage boy up, he explained, "See, I don't know if you know, but there's a strict No Bullying policy here in the academy. And you know, 'If you see something, say something'? I can't just let you do this. I can't let you go after him." He hoped it wasn't obvious he was winging it.

After a pause, the boy nodded. "Alright. We'll just come after you instead."

"No, no, no, no, no!" Leo held his hands up, stepping back as they stepped forward. "Guys, come on." He chuckled again. "You don't want to do this."

The boy cracked his knuckles. "Oh, I do," he said, smirking. "You think you're such a big deal, don't you? Because you beat a ten year-old at some smack down? You think you can just boss anyone around. But you should really learn your place." Leo's eyes widened when the guy's balled fists began glowing. "And I'm about to teach you."

 _Why do you have to be like Natalie today?_ Leo angrily berated himself as he carefully backed away. If it had just been him and the bully there, it would not have been a problem. One swipe, and the guy's ability would be gone. However, other people were watching. He didn't think revealing his undisclosed ability would be wise.

Fighting back, though he had the strength, wouldn't do either. Surely the Davenports would hear of it, and he needed to keep his scholarship, _thank you very much_. Violence was not the key. He just had to think of something else.

He didn't have much time to think though. Leo was barely able to dodge the first punch thrown at him, tripping over his feet and falling on his side. Groaning, the boy had to again roll over to dodge a kick directed at him.

Stumbling to his feet, Leo brought his hands out in a calming motion. "Okay, look. I said some things, you said some things. How about we just move on before someone gets hurt?"

The bully just smirked. "Oh, someone's going to get hurt alright." Bringing back his fist, Leo ducked under a punch, only to get kneed in the stomach. The wind successfully knocked out of him, Leo fell to his knees, falling next to the boy he was trying to protect.

"Not so tough now, are you, punk? You should have let things be when you had a chance." His smirk growing even more, the bully grabbed Leo by his collar, bringing the smaller boy into the air, his feet barely on the ground. "Now, you're going to pay."

"Excuse me." Amelia held an index finger up as she took the last bite of her cupcake. She dusted her hands off, and then she placed them on her older brother's shoulders.

Leo barely managed to catch himself as he suddenly fell back to his feet. The grip on his collar loosened, and the intense expression on the older boy who picked on them slackened. Surprise and confusion replaced it. From his widened eyes, it looked as if someone splashed ice cold water on him.

While her older brother slightly staggered, Amelia smiled at his other accomplices. She held her hands out to scare them then said, "Alright. Who's next?"

The four boys scrambled to get away from her. One of them risked helping up their older brother before hurrying as far as they possibly could.

Amelia crossed her arms as she watched them with a smirk. "Sissies."

"What was that all about?" Leo asked, fixing the collar on his shirt as he came to her side. "What did you do to him?"

"Negated his super strength."

"Negated?"

"Power negation. One of my abilities. Probably even my main." Amelia looked at him, smiling. Leo quickly picked up the undercurrent of sadness running under it. "Does that scare you?"

Leo shook his head. "I actually think that's awesome," he said sincerely.

Amelia chuckled. "You better."

Smirking at the girl, he looked past her, to the boy who started all of this. The kid looked visibly shaken by what his sister just did to him. Clearing his throat, Leo got his attention. "So, you still want to fight?"

The bully growled, backing out of the cafeteria. "You're going to be sorry about this, shrimp." Then he ran out of the room, heading towards the dorms.

"We'll see about that." Laughing, Leo and Amelia high-fived, savoring their victory. Though, the feeling was short-lived. Their blood ran cold as they heard someone clear their throat behind them. Turning around, they recoiled from the harsh glare coming from Mr. Davenport.

Grinning sheepishly, Leo talked. "Hey, Mr. Davenport. How's your day?"

The look on the man's face didn't change. "You, you, and you. Follow me," the billionaire said, pointing at Leo, Amelia, and the bullied boy.

Groaning, Leo and Amelia walked behind the man, the other teen following behind.

 **. . .**

The three sat on the couch in the mentor's quarters, Mr. Davenport looking down on them. After a tense silence, he spoke. "So, what happened?"

Before the two boys could speak, Amelia jumped up. "It wasn't us, it was S-12. He was picking on S-23, so Leo tried to get him to stop. Then he started attacking Leo, so I negated his abilities."

Sighing, the man spoke. "While that was very nice of you two, that gives you no excuse to use your abilities without supervision. Someone could have gotten very hurt and—"

"Someone was going to get very hurt if she hadn't done something," Leo said, jumping in. "If Amelia hadn't done anything, we would have continued to get bullied by that jerk."

"That may be, Leo, but it was still very irresponsible. I hoped you could have set an example to the students, set them in the right direction. Maybe I was wrong."

"Isn't the point of this academy to teach people to do the right thing? If I had just sat by and let S-12 continue to do what he was doing, that would just teach everyone it's okay to pick on other people. So if that means I'm a bad example, so be it."

Mr. Davenport sighed. "Look, I don't have time to discuss this with you. Lunch is almost over, and I have a class to teach. On top of that, I have to quickly go to the mainland to get some supplies for the class. You guys stay here. Don't leave until I get back." With that, the man left the room. Making sure they stay put, he locked the door.

"Unbelievable," Amelia said, sitting back on the couch. "We try to do something good, and we get in trouble for it." Sighing, Leo sat back down in the middle of the two teens.

They all sat in silence for a few minutes before someone spoke. "I never got to say thank you for what you did."

Amelia and Leo looked at the boy, surprised to hear his voice for the first time. "S-12 has been picking on me ever since we met. Everyone else has just let it happen, but you guys didn't. I don't care what Mr. Davenport says; I think you guys did the right thing. I just wish you guys didn't get in trouble for it."

Leo smiled. "Well, you know," he said, "Trouble _is_ my middle name."

Amelia frowned. "It is?"

"It's actually Francis, but it practically means the same thing." Leo grinned as the other two chuckled. He nodded at the boy. "What's your name?"

"Oh, um…I'm S-23."

"That's not a name, man, that's a designation," Leo said. "I mean your name, something that means you."

The boy scratched his head. "That's actually, uh, a little complicated."

Both Leo and Amelia frowned. "What do you mean 'complicated'?" Amelia asked.

"Well, uh, I gave Mr. Davenport the name Robert. I don't know, I kinda liked it," he explained, "but then S-12 said he wants that name, so it can't be mine."

"How can it not be yours if you were the first one to come up with it?" Amelia asked.

The boy shrugged. "On the registry we have the same name, but now I can't be called Robert. He told everyone it's his, and, um, well…yeah."

Amelia scoffed, while Leo quirked his brows. "He makes me sick," Amelia muttered.

"You know what? Whatever. Let's just get you a new name. Or a nickname, at least," Leo said. He pondered over it. "What can you tell me about yourself?"

That seemed to make the teenager uncomfortable. "Um, well, I…I don't—"

"I can tell you he's very quiet," Amelia told Leo.

"Well, I just – I kinda, um, just don't have much to say, really."

"Alright," Leo said. "What are your bionic abilities? Besides laser vision."

"I, I have echolocation. Also geoleaping."

"You sure you don't have super intelligence?" Amelia asked him, grinning. "Because you're, like, really smart."

The compliment flustered him. He slightly turned away. "I don't – um…"

Amelia grinned teasingly. "Don't deny it, genius. If you're smart, you're smart," she said. She shrugged. "You're just gonna be one of our family's brainiacs. Like, our Robert the space…engineer…expert man."

Leo chuckled. "Like the rocket scientist?"

"Yeah, sure," Amelia said.

The teenage boy tried not to grin at that but failed.

A look of epiphany came to Leo's features. "I got it," he told them both. To the boy he said, "How 'bout we call you Rocket?"

"Rocket?"

Amelia's bottom lip jutted up as she thought about it. "Rocket. I can dig that," she said. Leaning farther back so she could get a good look at her brother, she asked, "How about you, bro? What do you think?"

The teenage boy thought about it a while. Then, finally, he slowly nodded. "Rocket," he repeated with a smile. "I like it."

Leo held up a fist for him to bump. "That's what I'm talking about," he said after Rocket took it.

Amelia smiled widely as she closed her eyes. "I don't know about you guys, but I have a feeling this is gonna be a great year," she said.

"We're starting it off in detention," Leo pointed out.

"Detention?"

"Punishment, when you do something you're not supposed to at school," Leo explained to Rocket. He looked around. "Ironically, minus the scenic view and high tech living space, detention is exactly like this."

"There's a pool, a fridge, four capsules that we can pick and choose from, and a lounging area." Amelia quirked her brows as she opened her eyes. She smirked. "It's not punishment as far as I'm concerned." She got up. "Come on, you two. Let's wade our feet in the pool."

"Won't we get in more trouble?" Rocket asked as Leo and Amelia headed out.

Leo turned around then shrugged as he walked backwards. "Mr. Davenport never said anything about not going to the pool," he said. "He just told us to stay here."

Rocket thought about it, and soon enough he joined his newfound friends, all three of them completely unaware of how their presence in the quarters had thrown a wrench in a plan nearing its fulfillment.

* * *

 _Part three will come in two weeks._


End file.
